Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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82. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which he monitors the degree to which this country can remain an attractive location for investment in the manufacturing and service sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2519/16]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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86. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent of competition for foreign direct investment from other European Union and non-European Union countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2523/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 86 together.

There are many factors that make Ireland competitive and attractive for Foreign Direct Investment and contribute to a decision of a multinational company to locate here. These include the high-quality of education and skills development, our innovation ecosystem, the ease of doing business here and our openness to trade, along with our overall competitiveness in terms of costs and taxation.

All these factors helped IDA Ireland achieve record results in 2015, with its client companies creating 18,983 new jobs across a range of sectors. Every region of Ireland posted net employment gains and 213 new investments in Ireland were made during the course of the year, of which 94 came from new names. Many large multinationals also publicly announced investment plans in Ireland, including Apple, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Pramerica, Northern Trust, Facebook, Vodafone, SAS, Google, ABEC Inc, and Zalando.

Notwithstanding these record numbers, global competition for FDI - whether from EU or non-EU countries - remains intense. That is why the agency is constantly monitoring competitor locations and the value propositions they offer to potential mobile investment.

More broadly, our work in continuing to attract international investment in Ireland will be guided by both my Department’s Policy Statement on Foreign Direct Investment and IDA Ireland’s own five-year strategy “Winning - Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019”. The IDA Strategy details both how the Agency will broaden its target sectors further and seek new markets over the next five years. Its ambitious targets include boosting FDI in Ireland by over 40% and creating 80,000 new jobs in the economy. As part of its growth strategy, IDA has also committed to increasing the level of investment into each region of Ireland by between 30% and 40%.